1. The Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates to a connector, and particularly to an electrical connector with an improved housing for fixing contacts therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electrical connector is mounted between electronic devices for transmitting electrical signals therebetween. Contacts must be reliably positioned in the connector to secure reliable signal transmission. A prior art connector is disclosed in Taiwan patent application No. 86207970 shown in FIGS. 4-5. A conventional connector 3 comprises an insulative housing 4 and a plurality of contacts 5. The housing 4 has a bottom wall 41 with a step-shaped portion 40 at a front end thereof. Step-shaped contact receiving slots 42 are defined through the step-shaped portion 40 having a first receiving portion 44 and a second receiving portion 45 for receiving an extending portion 51 of a corresponding contact 5.
Production of the prior art housing 4 required a high precision mold to control the breadth of the contact receiving slots 42 to assure a proper fit of the contacts 5 therein. If the breadth of the contact receiving slots 42 are slightly narrower than that of the contacts 5, the contacts 5 can be easily deformed or damaged while being pressed into the housing 4. If the breadth of the contact receiving slots 42 are slightly wider than that of the contacts 5, the contact 5 can be easily displaced from its position. Furthermore, a small displacement of the extending potion end 51 of the contact can result in a comparatively large displacement at the engaging portion end 52.
Accordingly, an improved electrical connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art